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Sixteen years after a fire in a Delhi cinema killed 59 people, the Supreme Court confirmed the conviction of the Ansal brothers, heads of a prominent North India property firm and who owned and were in charge of the Uphaar building at the time.
However, the two judges who heard their appeals differed on the sentence to be awarded and left this question to be decided by a three-judge bench.
A trial court had awarded two years imprisonment for gross negligence but the high court here had reduced it to one year. Both Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, as well as the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy, appealed to the SC. The Ansals wanted acquittal; the kin of the victims wanted a stiffer punishment. The Ansals are out on bail bond and they will continue to be till the sentence is decided. The question about what to do with the property, in the heart of the capital and sealed since the time, will also be decided by a larger bench.
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In two long judgments, written by judges T S Thakur and Gyan Sudha Misra, there was unanimity about the culpability of the brothers. Judge Thakur upheld the higher sentence of two years, for causing death by negligence as under the Indian Penal Code. Judge Misra imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on the brothers in lieu of a year in jail, to be utilised for building a trauma centre at Dwarka in southwest Delhi, on a five-acre lot. Given the differences, these issues will be re-argued before a larger bench.
Thakur’s judgment stated the Ansals were more concerned about making money than ensuring the safety of cinegoers. Their “contemptuous” disregard for the law led to the loss of lives. The brothers were at the helm of affairs at the time of the tragedy and, therefore, cannot escape the blame and pass it to others.
